Midterm elections are here. 

In an extremely contentious race, gubernatorial candidates Greg Abbot and Robert O’ Rourke are nearly neck-and-neck in the polls. 

On Nov. 8, 2022, voting closes for either Robert O’Rourke, more commonly known as “Beto,” or Gov. Greg Abbott. In light of the current election, each candidate has campaigned all year n in order to address their stance on public issues. 

Immigration 

In regards to Texas’ long-held dispute over border control, Gov. Greg Abbott believes that increasing border security and ensuring state money is only being sent to legal residents, is the most effective way to handle illegal immigration. In order to reduce the number of drug cartels and human traffickers caused by unstable borders, Abbott signed a security law. This law essentially removed sanctuary cities which bused migrants, and funded law enforcement to reduce illegal immigrants. 

“This all began back in April when small little towns on the Texas border were overwhelmed by [President] Joe Biden’s border policies that were dumping thousands of illegal immigrants into [them, despite being] completely incapable of dealing with it,” said Abbott. 

O’Rourke emphasized the importance of improving the immigration system. O’Rourke claims that funding the Texas National Guard to remove migrants is performative. Instead, he suggests increasing technology (surveillance cameras, drones, sensors, etc.), establishing legal pathways for migrants, implementing a guest worker program, and uniting families separated by the border, to promote safer immigration. 

“We need Texas-based solutions like a Texas-based guest worker program where Republicans and Democrats come together,” said O’Rourke. “We work with our federal partners and make sure that anybody who wants to work in this state has a safe, legal… path to come here.”

Crime

Abbott believes that the most effective way to handle crime is by actively removing criminals from the Texas community. In order to make this change, Abbott implemented the Cyber Crimes and Fugitive units in 2003, which were responsible for arresting criminals (predators, sex offenders, felons, etc.).

The Greg Abbott campaign states that “This directly [resulted] in the arrest of more than 4,454 fugitives, sex offenders, parole violators, and other felons.”

O’Rourke plans to cut down on crime as a whole by focusing on prevention. He believes that criminalizing mental health issues is ineffective for change, instead, he suggests the government should fund mental health care and increase the number of social workers. O’Rourke also advocates for giving money to forensics for things such as rape kits, in order to help bring justice to victims. 

“As governor, I’ll lead the largest expansion of mental health care in Texas history and ensure our jails are no longer forced to be our state’s largest provider of psychiatric services,” said O’Rourke. 

Gun laws

A major debate within Texas is gun control laws. Abbott believes in protecting gun rights, but rather than restricting access to guns, Abbott believes in expanding them. Abbott promoted the Supreme Court’s decisions to strike down bans and regulations on firearms. He also lawfully permitted the use of guns on campuses and in public areas with the purpose of protecting people’s Second Amendment rights. 

“Ever since Texas has been a state, an 18-year-old has had the ability to buy a long gun, a rifle,” said Abbott. “Since that time, it seems like it’s only been in the past decade or two that we’ve had school shootings.” 

O’Rourke’s position on the issue is that Texas should maintain the right to bear arms, but should increase regulation of firearms to reduce gun violence.  He proposes that in order to ensure armed citizens are not a threat to public safety, he will close private-sale background checks, start an effective red flag law system, enforce safe storage and child access prevention laws, and increase action taken on domestic violence reports. He believes that these solutions could have prevented incidents like the 2019 El Paso shooting. 

“No other country on the planet has the level of gun violence and gun death that America has,” said O’Rourke. “It’s because we have gun laws in this country that benefit gun manufacturers [and] special interest organizations, [but] don’t benefit the people whose lives are lost.”

Reproductive rights

Abbott wishes to prevent abortions and is in support of the current Texas laws. Abbott’s goal is to protect unborn fetuses and has made strides to ensure that tax money does not go to funding abortions. Additionally, he claims that during his time as governor, Texas raised money for adoption services and banned the selling of fetal body parts. 

“We must make clear that the life of the mother is just as important as the life of the child, and that doctors must take action to protect the life of the mother,” says Abbott.

After the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Texas currently does not permit the right to an abortion unless the mother’s health comes into jeopardy. O’Rourke wishes to change this ruling and supports the idea that women should be able to choose.

“I will veto any future legislation that seeks to further control women. [This includes] Republican proposals to limit access to contraception, [preventing] Texans from crossing state lines to seek reproductive care, and [prosecuting] businesses that pay for employees to seek care in other states,” said O’Rourke. “[I will also strengthen] investments in affordable contraception, cancer screenings, and other crucial family planning services.” 

Despite their differing viewpoints, both Abbott and O’Rourke are pushing for ideas that they believe will benefit Texas. To learn more information about their campaigns, visit Beto for Texas and Abbott Governor.